So I have actively using Roll20 for just about over a year (I think I activated it way before that though). Here are my thoughts on it. They are not good. I don't think I will be finding myself using Roll20 for a long time now. ## The Good ## It is a nice virtual desktop option that has a lot of versatility. The fact that it is free gives it accessibility to just about anyone with a decent computer or in some cases tablet device. I have mostly only used it to play D&D 5e so I am not sure how great it is for other game systems but it does the job for D&D. There is also a lot of support for Roll20 thanks to the community driven forums that offer a lot of macro and script support outside of Roll20's support. Dynamic lighting feature is great and can do something that I could not accomplish in real life table top gaming, allowing players to only see and observe what their racial abilities allow them to see. ## The Bad ## Okay this list is long! 1. Interface: The interface of roll20 is horrible. It is poorly designed taking on the same horrible interface as Adobe who is the king of poor programming. The tool bar takes up space. It would be more ideal to use a contextual bar (token actions fix this but it takes a lot of effort to set up). The interface is also colorless meaning you re reliant on icons rather than color themes. As a professional Art Director/UI designer I can tell you that the interface can definitely be worked on. 2. Usability: Roll20 for a GM has a STEEP learning curve. It took me having to watch nearly all day worth of Youtube videos to even make a game playable for my players. Without extensive knowledge of how Roll20 works it makes it a lot of handwork for GMs, slowing gameplay and creating less of an immersive experience for players. Roll20 is definitely usable: but it requires a lot of learning and research to make it a decent experience for everyone. 3. Finding a Game: It is near impossible to find a group on Roll20. This is mostly due to low number of GMs. When looking for a group (mostly in D&D section) you mostly just find people who are looking for GMs. If you do find a group you are interested in joining you are in competition with 67786676 other applicants (a bit exaggerated I know). This makes the likeliness to of finding a group near impossible. This is not the fault of Roll20, but it does lead to the next problem. 4. Lack of Rating/Review system: 3 out of the 4 games I have played in that I found on Looking For A Group have been run by some horrible GMs. One GM kept cancelling on the group. One other GM was just plain out boring and my last GM was a narcissistic racist who thought his racist jokes were funny. I now understand why I was able to easily get into these GM's games, because no one else wanted to play with them. Being able to have a rating system or review system would help weed out the horrible GMs (and players). There are some other good things I like about Roll20 and some other bad things I don't like about Roll20 but these are things I can think of right now. I have since cancelled my subscription to Pro and ended my campaign with my racist GM. I don't think I will be coming back to playing a game on Roll20. I also would not recommend Roll20 to anyone who doesn't already have a group of friends they want to play with. I would not recommend Roll20 to a GM who does not have a lot of time, I would recommend a different virtual table top. I may use Roll20 for play testing my future in person games, that is just about it. TL;DR Roll20 lacks decent interface and requires a huge learning curve to use for GMs. It is hard to find a game and when you do you are gambling on getting a crappy GM due to lack of a review system. I will not recommend Roll20 to my friends.
